Lido Café

Hello, I would like to post this as a reply to Janets comments below. First I would like to apologise for the experience you had. We are situated in Herne Hill, and on some days we do have a lot of mums and their kids come to the cafe. We are putting noise reduction panels in place to make peoples visits more pleasant, as for discipling customers children, we always ask the parents directly if we see innapropriate behaviour, sometimes children simply do not listen to their parents. Our char grilled chicken is marianted in garlic, rapeseed oil, thyme and other herbs, then char grilled. It is our most popular dish and not something that we have ever had a complaint about before. The Chicken is free range and comes from a farm with very high animal welfare standards, and is trimmed of all fat before grilling. We are sorry if you didn't find the dish to your liking.
We would like to invite you back for lunch on us by way of apology, and to offer you something else from our seasonally changing menu. please get in contact directly with us, and we will organise a table for you.

Today was my third visit. Full of mums with children, which is great, but the children were screaming, running all over the place, food on the floor, child lying on the floor - their wells strewn across the floor. A scooter was even being used although the mum did try to stop that. Childless visitors gradually moved outside except a bit chilly today. Nothing is said to the mums with unruly kids and I certainly won't be going back. Service was appalling - had to ask for menus, ask to order and ask for bill. The grilled chicken was bland, fatty and totally disgusting. I complained - when I got their attention that is - they apologied but I was not offered anything else nor a reduction. ps normally I will eat anything if hungry but not their chicken. They are getting complacent and its turning into a creche!

Congratulations for the Time Out prize...Just and well-deserved!!!

alienswampmonster must be as crazy as there username; this place is fantastic. I had breakfast and lunch today. It was busy all day, yet the service was friendly and swift. my coffee had artwork in it and the food was fantastic. Prices are cheap and with my 10% gym discount it's even more of a bargain!

Had a lovely expereince here on Saturday, really good full english, and stornwaway black pudding (mmmm) coffee was very good with latte art to boot! I came here as a local friend said it was amazing, I wasn't dissapointed.

Truly terrible service and they seem to like keeping those with children waiting exceptionally long. They serve something they call pancakes with maple syrup. My kids thought they were tasteless, spongey pitta-style breads and refused to eat them. The syrup had clearly never seen a maple tree. Lovely setting, shame about the crappy service and crappy food.

Worth a visit if the weather is good. Pleasant if you sit outdoors and watch the swimmers go by. Food was good. Coffee was decent. Eggs benedict was done well. All up a good place to head for a reasonably priced breakfast..

oh no. no no no. what lovely setting but a shame about the food. we were hoping for a decent breakfast but what we got was a big disappointment. to put it simply, they can't cook bacon. it was sweaty, limp, and sad-looking. streaky bacon should be crisp. and, preferably smoked. we even asked for it to be crispy. come on lido cafe.

As a local, the Lido cafe has by far the best breakfast in Brixton / Herne Hill area, specially after a cold swim.
Also, I highly recommend having a drink or dinner while the sun is setting over the park, evening food is pretty descent too with well sourced produce.

Coffee here is great and so is the food, though they could be more generous with the toast for the full English (one slice is not enough!). Agree with Paul though - the concrete floor and windows mean the acoustics are pretty bad and the noise can be quite deafening. Maybe an investment in a new floor would be worth it to dim the noise.

Disagree with PaulR. The service when I went (last Saturday) was very quick and attentive. The breakfast was top notch and I didn't think it was overpriced. Yes, sometimes there are a few kids but you have the option of eating on the terrace to get away from the noise.

Hit and miss sometimes good sometimes bad.
Often full of very noisy children and the acoustics make the noise unbearable.
Service is slow prices high.

Service has improved immeasurably. Delicious evening meals, crisp lager, wonderfully welcoming ambience, free wifi and friendly owners telling you about the origins of the food. One the best restaurants / cafes in south London.

The service has improved a lot over the last year and the food is delicious. very reasonable price as well. Best place in Herne hill by far.

I've been to this cafe a few times and although the service can be a bit slow on hot days, the food is great and seasonal and it's reasonably priced too. One of the best eateries in Herne hill.

Clearly understaffed, waited 30 mins for a coffee and pain au chocolat, even though I got coffee and croissant. WIFI is free, if they manage to get the password for it. The only way I would recommend this place is if you go straight to the swimming pool.